Biography

Onika Maraj (born December 8, 1984), better known by her stage name Nicki Minaj, is a Trinidadian American rapper and singer-songwriter. In 2008 she won the Female Artist of the Year award at the Underground Music Awards. Minaj released "Beam Me Up Scotty," another mixtape, in April 2009 which received positive coverage on both BET and MTV.

In August 2009, Minaj signed to Young Money Entertainment with distribution from Universal Motown. That same month Minaj released "Your Love" as the first official single from her debut album "Pink Friday." The single peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #7 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and topped the Rap Songs chart. Minaj became the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.

In October 2010, Minaj became the first artist to have seven songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart simultaneously.

"Pink Friday" was released in November 2010 and debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, going on to sell over one million copies. It eventually peaked at #1 on the chart, making it just the third album by a woman rapper to take the top spot. "Pink Friday" also rose to #1 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Rap Albums charts.